Friday, July 2, 2010

EAT MUD

I've been sipping coffee and waiting for the sun. Now all my friendly trees are standing on tiptoe and the leaves are washed with rose-gold. A few late birds are still at song. I can't see them but their musical conversations create graceful images in the eyes of my mind. One birds offers a song of gold, another brings a deep rose and a third punctuates it all with a vibrant green. Sometimes the colors bend and blend as they flutter and float across my many inward eyes. The leaves recognize the old music and have begun their morning dance of praise.Mary O makes friends with the beans in her garden. "They like being lean, as if for the narrow path." One day she found an arrowhead and put it in her pocket. On the way home she met a ghost who said, "I would rather drink the wind... I would rather eat mud and die than steal as you still steal, and lie as you still lie."It wasn't because she carried the small gift but because she claimed it as her own. The old finders keepers mentality of MINE. I have a few arrowheads, too. Not a collection but a few. They are not on display but tucked away in a cunning wooden box my mother gave me long ago. They are not mine. I am the temporary caretaker. When I touch them... they touch me. When I speak to them they answer.The pigeons arrive on time with their opal song. It is so small and simple but it pulls a long blue fringe. I feel it cross my face, light and cool... like a whisper. It reminds me of broken promises.I was up so early I decided to go back to bed. Well, that's the best way to have a dream. I was inside a a small unfinished cabin lit by two dusty windows. I was putting things into a fairly large box. Then I picked up the box and went out. As the screen door banged shut behind me I turned to face 3 wolves. I dropped the box to the unpainted board porch. But it didn't fall with a bang. It lowered itself in a quiet manner and the wolves disappeared into the nearby forest. Then I heard music and followed it to a small tavern. It was dark and gloomy inside. But the music was nice. A big man stepped forward and asked me to dance. I was delighted! It's been a long time since I danced with a man. As we danced I saw that he was black. He was talking to me but as I tried to listen a phone rang. We both looked around to see where the phone was located. Suddenly my arms were empty. I crept from the bed to answer the phone. It was Chey! We made week-end plans I'll leave tomorrow, spend two days at the Pow-wow, sleep at her house and leave for Thunder Lake from there.